Morning Bid: Waiting on Nvidia for next leg of AI rally

Aug 25 (Reuters) - A look at ‌the day ahead ​in ​European and global markets from Rae Wee

It's been a muted start to the session in Asia on Tuesday, with stocks drifting ahead of ‌Nvidia's earnings this week, where expectations are running sky high for the ⁠artificial intelligence darling to deliver stellar results.

Technology shares remained under pressure following Alibaba's launch of a $10.2 billion ‌share sale at a steep ‌discount to fund its AI ambitions as well as disappointment over Samsung Electronics' shareholder-return plan in the previous session.

Meanwhile, a roughly 45% slump in the shares ​of Unitree since a more than fivefold jump on its Shanghai debut has triggered concerns about bubble risk, retail investor losses and flaws in the IPO system.

Shares ⁠of China's best-known humanoid robot maker were largely flat on Tuesday, following days of declines since its listing.

Much ​now rides on Nvidia to drive the next leg of the AI rally, given its role as a bellwether for the broader ​AI ecosystem spanning chipmakers and companies financing the ‌rapid expansion of data center capacity.

Elsewhere, oil prices were nursing losses after threats from the U.S. for an "economic D-Day" of sanctions on ⁠Iran turned out to be a damp squib.

The U.S. on Monday unveiled an expansion of sanctions that it said would cut off Iran's economic lifeline but stopped short of the most ⁠punishing measures, instead putting the world on notice to cease doing business with the Islamic Republic.

Tehran ​promised to retaliate against the sanctions and expressed confidence that major trading partners would resist Washington's pressure campaign.

As the war in the Middle East drags on, investors await a string of data ‌releases from Europe this week, including German GDP data and the German Ifo survey later on Tuesday, which could shed light ‌on the economic cost of higher-for-longer energy prices.

Key developments that could influence markets on Tuesday:

- ⁠Germany GDP, Ifo survey

- Reopening of ‌2-year German government debt ​auction

- Reopening of 7-year UK government debt auction

- U.S. Conference Board's consumer confidence

- Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin speaks

(Editing by ‌Saad Sayeed)

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